Speaking of Vincent van Gogh

Self-Portrait, Saint-Remy, September 1889 oil 15 1/4" x 12 1/4"

The cyberspace artist community I've been hanging out in regularly since I discovered it, is called Wet Canvas http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/ . In one of the oil painting forums there is a thread called "Master of the Month." January-February 2008 the Master just happens to be Mr. Vincent van Gogh. All the participating artists (who are big VVG nuts like myself) have been doing copies of van Gogh paintings, and paintings in van Gogh's broken-line, impasto style.

I decided to do a self-portrait, it's been years since I've done one. My inspiration is this painting; Vincent's very last self-portrait, one which he gave to his mother. Interestingly, he painted himself much younger than he was at the time, and tried to prove his "improved state of health."

But still, he has that intense, forlorn look in his eyes. I tried to emulate the look with my own reflection.

This is the photo I used for my reference, taken last summer in Washington.

And here is my van Gogh-style KWG Self-Portrait; the sketch and painting (looking younger than I really am):

0il pastel on canvas board, 9" x 12"

I'm doing a series of four, each one based on a very different van Gogh self-portrait. I also plan to use a different medium for each one. The first is oil pastel; I'll do an oil painting, an acrylic, and something else; not sure yet for the fourth.

This one looks like he modeled it after Rembrandt. It will be very good practice for me to do a painting in this style.

Self-Portrait With Dark Felt Hat, Paris, early 1886 oil on canvas, 15 1/4" x 12 1/4"

With the very dark lighting, stark contrast, and the dull colors he used-- this one does not even resemble the work Vincent is so well-known for. Again, good for practice-- to really push the darks & lights.

Self-Portrait, Paris, early 1886 oil on canvas, 18 1/8" x 15"

This was painted at a cafe in Paris where he was allowed to exhibit some of his Japanese prints, which so fascinated him. One geisha is in the background on the right. I love how loose and simplified this is. It looks like a sketch with big, fat crayons; rather than a painting!


Self-Portrait With Japanese Print, Paris, late 1887 oil on canvas, 16 15/16" x 13 3/8"

Here are the other sketches I've prepared for this series, from the following photo reference (with my new do), and that same intense glare:

Had a problem with the lips and the nose is too long on this one! Pencil on cheap paper.

This is in the bedroom. Better likeness here. Ink sketch on canvas, prep for painting.

And in the studio. I used conte crayon on this one. Cheap paper again.

I put some more paint on the Iris Chair. I'm pleased with how this is shaping up. I plan to detail the irises a little bit more, but not too much.

Here is my easel set-up showing my references.

oil on canvas, 20" x 16"

If next month's Master is Michelangelo-- I'm doomed!!

Finally Finished!

I'm finally finished with Judy's Chagall and I shipped it to her last week:






Acrylic on gallery-wrap canvas, 20"x16" with sides painted














I really struggled with this one, and Judy was such a dear, sweetheart to remain sooooooooo patient with me!! Thank you and God bless you, Judy!! I hope you are pleased...

"Pay It Forward" Mural

BREAKING NEWS!!

(Flashback to early January, 2008)

The Objective: create a mural in the play yard and transform the drab block walls into a colorful, happy environment for the children served by the Playhouse at Children Today's new North Long Beach location.

I wanted to create a magical world to resemble a fun, grassy, garden-like place from a bug’s eye view through the eyes of a child. My inspiration for the design style came from two of my favorite artists; Henri Rousseau, known for his very stylized jungle scenes; and Eric Carle, a beloved writer and illustrator of children’s books, with whom many kids are already familiar.

Illustration by Eric Carle from, "The Very Quiet Cricket"

"Exotic Landscape" by Henri Rousseau, 1910

In working with a crew of teen volunteers, the approach needed to be ”cool” enough to engage them, yet simple enough not to intimidate the inexperienced artist.

I made the renderings to scale divided into five sections, and outlined the drawing onto the wall with a fat Sharpie. The kids spread out in front of their favorite areas, and we went to work.

As the result of five boys who gave their dollars to finance the paint, and the beautiful brushwork of more than a dozen volunteers– parents included– the “Pay It Forward” mural came to life.




It is my hope that the children will feel the sense of joy and comfort,

when being greeted each day by their familiar “friends”

upon returning to their safe haven at Play House North.

And that the teens who so generously gave of their money and their time, will remember the plight of homeless children as they grow into young adults.

May we all grow in gratitude and a continued spirit of charity!

To find out more about Children Today and how you can assist families affected by homelessness, go to:

http://www.childrentoday.org/

To those who are already helping support Children Today, thank you!

Peace,

kwg

Happy Valentine's Day!

Last Friday afternoon I received an email with an acknowledged last-minute request to do a painting of giraffes. A dear friend from childhood wanted to give his wife, who collects giraffes, the painting for Valentine's Day.

"You bet," I replied. I rarely turn down requests which are within reason. It would have to be acrylic on canvas, the fastest-drying option.

I immediately did an image search for giraffes, and suggested painting two of the beautiful animals together, since it was the day to honor love. Mark asked for a mother and child.

"Great idea!" I enjoy painting the mother-child subject, whether human or beast.

First a pencil sketch on paper. This helps to familiarize myself with the details of a giraffe, and really study my subject matter.

Then I "sketch" the composition on the canvas with paint and block in areas of color for the background. The photo I worked from had an almost entirely black background. I wanted suggestions of foliage, and glints of light here and there.

I began adding Payne's Grey (an almost-black color) to the background and bring darks into the animals. The paint was very wet at this stage which caused glares in the digital photos.

Here I began focusing more on the details of the giraffes. It's important for me to get the canvas covered with color, so I am not painting subjects against stark white (the total absence of color). Color is effected by other colors; and especially black and white.

At this point I realized that I had the shape of the heads wrong, and had made them too squared.

So I rounded out the jawlines and added some blue to the background (which is the direct compliment to orange). Notice how the oranges in the giraffes seem so much brighter with the addition of blue. And the foliage now has a richness and a better illusion of depth.

Painting is just constantly adding more detail, adjusting edges, and layering color; in a back and forth dance between brush and canvas.

Mark was very pleased with the finished painting, and excited about surprising his wife. I can hardly wait to hear about her reaction. The "mother and child" came into being so quickly and were with us only briefly, but I miss them already...

They lived on the wall next to my Toucan for about 2 hours and made nice pals, I think!

Portrait Challenge

Here was my challenge; paint the brother and sister in oil on canvas; and attempt to capture their likenesses and personalities, and create paintings-- not just copies of photographs.

I began with pencil sketches to show to the client for approval. The first round didn't quite achieve their likenesses. I drew both children looking older than they really are; a common problem I have when doing portraits of children.

Also their lips were not at all right-- I drew them much fuller than they are naturally.








Round two (these were actually about round 4 or 5, as I did several interim sketches of both brother and sister)...










The client was much happier with these drawings and gave me the go-ahead to proceed with the underpainting.





At this stage she visited me to see the paintings started.

She was pleased, and again told me to proceed.

Getting close to being finished, I turned to some other artists whose work I respect and admire for pointers. I enjoy the community of artists in cyberspace called "Wet Canvas" where we share our work for constructive criticism and help and encourage each other. It helps to have more eyes look at my work to catch things I can't see.

Being an artist is a lonely profession, for the most part; unless you are a teacher, or work with a team of artists, or share studio space. I primarily work alone in my home studio, except when I teach (currently only one class a week), or when I paint murals and work with a crew.

I got some good feedback and critiques. I learned alot, mostly how much there is yet to learn! Portraits are very difficult, especially when working only from photos.

The ideal situation is to spend some time with your subjects, take your own photos, and make sketches from life.

Whenever I sketch from real life, even very quick gestural sketches-- it has a way of "anchoring in" a visual in my mind that I can conjure up when I'm in the studio. Rough drawings always serve to enhance the "life" of my own photos.

My client was very pleased with the finished portraits, as was the gift recipiant. It was an anniversary gift for her husband.

Portrait of brother finished, oil on canvas, 18"x14"

Portrait of sister finished, oil on canvas, 18"x14"

Iris Chair

Here is the start of my new "van Gogh" painting.




It will interesting to see this develop...




since I'm not really sure of what I'm doing.